Municipal tops Comunicaciones 2-0

CARSON, Calif. (AP)

CSD Municipal won the Doble Clasico CentroAmericano trophy with a 2-0 victory over Comunicaciones at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

The match between the Guatemala City archrivals who have split the last five Guatemalan league championships was very physical, with five yellow cards and two reds being issued by referee Ramon Hernandez.

Municipal opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Brazilian forward Evandro Ferreira beat David Guerra with a hard shot from 30 yards out. Municipal doubled the lead in the 50th minute when Salvadorian international Eliseo Quintanilla fired a free kick that was pushed away by Guerra, but fell to Oscar Isaula, who scored on the rebound from close range.

Comunicaciones' roster was headlined by MLS all-time leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham, who joined the club last week. The 35-year-old Cunningham created a number of chances during his 79 minutes.

As the second half wore on, the game became increasingly chippy with both sides picking up red cards in the span of two minutes. In the 63rd minute, Municipal midfielder Jean Marquez was sent off for a hard challenge on Quintanilla. In the ensuing scrum after the foul, Municipal's Claudio Albizuriz was also ejected from the match.

Comunicaciones attempted to cut the lead in half with considerable pressure late, but were repeatedly stopped by Municipal goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, who made a number of key saves.

Municipal nearly added a third goal in stoppage time when second-half substitute forward Mario Rodriguez fired a shot that was cleared off the line by Comunicaciones Costa Rican defender Michael Umana.

The match was headlined by MLS All-time leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham, who recently joined Comunicaciones last week. Cunningham, 35, threatened to score several times and created several scoring chances in his 79 minutes of action.

The game was the second in three days between the two Guatemala City archrivals. The teams met in a Guatemalan league match Wednesday in a considerably heated 2-0 Comunicaciones victory that was marred by 12 yellow cards, three red cards and a postgame brawl.